Helpful Toolbox

Square Foot Garden Planner

Sketch your raised bed, pick a crop, and watch the grid fill in with exactly how many plants fit.

📖 How it works & FAQ

What square foot gardening is

Square foot gardening divides a raised bed into a grid of 1-foot squares. Instead of long, wasteful rows, each square holds a set number of plants based on how much room that crop needs. A compact salad green like lettuce packs four to a square, while a sprawling tomato takes a whole square to itself. The result is more food from less space, easier weeding, and a bed that is simple to plan on paper before you ever touch soil.

How the plant math works

The planner multiplies your bed dimensions to get the number of squares (width in feet × length in feet), then multiplies that by the plants-per-square value for the crop you chose. So a 4 × 4 bed is 16 squares; plant it with lettuce at 4 per square and you get 64 plants. Common spacings are 1 per square for tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli; 4 for lettuce, basil, and strawberries; 8 to 9 for peas, bush beans, and spinach; and 16 for carrots, radishes, and onions. These are planting estimates for home gardens, not professional agronomy advice, so adjust for your variety and climate.

How to use it

  1. Enter your bed width and length in feet.
  2. Pick a crop from the list, which sets the plants-per-square automatically.
  3. Watch the grid redraw, with a dot for every plant in each square.
  4. Read the squares, plants-per-square, and total plants in the result cards.

FAQ

What size bed should I start with?
A 4 × 4 bed is the classic starter because you can reach the center from any side without stepping on the soil. Beds against a wall work best at 2 to 3 feet deep.
Can I plant a different crop in every square?
Absolutely, that is the whole idea. Run the planner once per crop to see how many plants each one needs, then mix and match squares across your bed.
Why does the grid show dots?
Each dot marks one plant and shows the spacing pattern inside a square, so 16 carrots appear as a 4 × 4 pattern and one tomato sits in the center.
Do these numbers include succession planting?
No. The totals cover a single planting. For fast crops like radishes or lettuce you can replant a square after harvest to grow several rounds per season.